Sky Replacement in LUMINAR NEO

[@AnthonyMorganti]

In this tutorial, I demonstrate how to replace a sky using Luminar Neo. Along the way, I also demo how to use your own skies or skies from a third party. ** I am an affiliate for all of the other companies mentioned here EXCEPT Affinity Photo and Capture One. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/ The Best Sky Images I've Seen Available -- Ocudrone - bit.ly/3vtDpjR *Save 10% with Discount Code: Morganti10 (May not work on sale product) For more info about Luminar NEO, go here: bit.ly/2JUJxKw (Save with the Promo Code AM16 - May not work on sale product) My Current Gear I’m always trading in cameras and lenses trying out new products. As of the recording of this video, here is the gear I currently own and use. All gear is purchased by me at normal retail pricing - I’m not sponsored by anyone nor am I an ambassador for any camera/lens manufacturer. The links below are my Amazon affiliate links. **As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases Cameras: Nikon Z9: bit.ly/32Pa9Kg (Adorama Affiliate Link) Nikon Z7ii: amzn.to/351PPmL Nikon Z6ii: amzn.to/3399eS7 Nikon Z6: amzn.to/2TIBGnR Nikon Zfc with Nikon 16-50mm f3.5-6.3 Lens: amzn.to/3ykA07w Nikon D500: amzn.to/2WyO8Lt Sony A7Riv: amzn.to/3amo9JJ Lenses: Nikon Z-Mount: Nikon Z 24-70mm F4.0 Lens: amzn.to/2Z0hW55 Nikon Z 24-70mm F/2.8 S: amzn.to/2JWo5IX Nikon Z 24-200mm F4-6.3 Lens: amzn.to/3j4xVrA NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S: amzn.to/3Cw4CVU TTArtisan 11mm F2.8: amzn.to/354Vnji Sony E-Mount: Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art Lens: amzn.to/3iKdbBQ Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art Lens: amzn.to/36fD8F1 Nikon F-Mount: Nikon 200-500mm F5.6 Lens: amzn.to/2WpggM2 Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 Lens: amzn.to/2VQMKi9 Nikon 28-300mm F3.5-5.6 Lens: amzn.to/2QuWmyb Nikon 14-24mm F2.8 Lens: amzn.to/2ZXR55C Nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VRii Lens: amzn.to/2WG1p5f Nikon 1.4x Teleconverter: amzn.to/2WlkZ1z Nikon 18-200mm F3.5-5.6 DX Lens: amzn.to/2MiEKUk Tokina 100mm Macro Lens: amzn.to/2ZRgxfK Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art Lens: amzn.to/32PmFDZ Other Gear: Battery Grip: VG-C4EM for Sony A7Riv: amzn.to/3g3Wvnm Tripods & Ballheads Vanguard Tripod: amzn.to/2WqWB2u Siriu Ballhead: amzn.to/2W1MyS0 MeFOTO Travel Tripod: amzn.to/31GVvys The Carbon Fiber Version: amzn.to/2LjVt9m Joby GorillaPod: amzn.to/2zMNAEc Camera Straps & Backpack Peak Design Camera Strap: amzn.to/2Sqi4Eg Peak Design Slide Camera Strap: amzn.to/2DoLxLl Peak Design Everyday 30L Backpack: amzn.to/2MJPFcb Spider Pro Hand Strap: amzn.to/30k170u Spider Pro Hand Strap ver 2: amzn.to/3aC3p1Z Memory Cards Sony 120GB XQD Card: amzn.to/2HlfR8Y Sony TOUGH-G series SDXC UHS-II Card 64GB: amzn.to/2PUJHoD Sony TOUGH-G series SDXC UHS-II Card 128GB: amzn.to/3oP6EZX Sony XQD/SD Card Reader: amzn.to/2NBuSHB Sony 128GB CFExpress Card: amzn.to/353hWC4 Delkin Devices 256GB CFExpress Card: amzn.to/3pULMDR CFExpress Card Reader: amzn.to/2X2xMbQ Anthony Morganti’s MUST HAVE applications: At least one Non-Destructive RAW Editor Lightroom - bit.ly/2zwQ0nW Capture One - www.captureone.com Luminar - bit.ly/2JUJxKw (Save with the Promo Code AM16) On1 Photo RAW - on1.sjv.io/EaGR2K (Save 20% with Promo Code: AM20) Exposure X7 - bit.ly/2U8UxrK (Save 10% with Promo Code: AnthonyMorganti) PhotoLab 5: tidd.ly/2HhiN9X At least one FULL Editing App: Photoshop - bit.ly/2zwQ0nW Affinity Photo - affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/ My MUST-HAVE Plugins: Topaz Gigapixel AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J Topaz Sharpen AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J Topaz Denoise AI - bit.ly/3cDqa5J *Save 15% on all Topaz Labs apps - use the Promo Code: AMDISC15 or instead of Topaz Denoise AI: On1 NoNoise AI - on1.sjv.io/EaGR2K (Save 20% with Promo Code: AM20 - May not work on sale product) Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 - tidd.ly/3dc4gYm The Best Sky Images I've Seen Available -- Ocudrone - bit.ly/3vtDpjR *Save 10% with Discount Code: Morganti10 ** Note that all of the promo codes listed above may not work on sale products. *** I am an affiliate for all of the companies listed EXCEPT Affinity Photo and Capture One. Please read my Code of Ethics Statement: onlinephotographytraining.com/code-of-ethics/ Please follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/anthonymorganti/ Thank you!

[@colinkeane6634]

Thank you Sir You've answered a question I asked my sky provider ❤

[@kurtissutley1485]

Thanks for the review on how to migrate the skies into the menu. All this being said, I sit here on a kitchen chair writing my comments while my cat, Tyler, sleeps in my expensive office chair undisturbed.

[@stevocem]

Thank you Anthony. I have the feeling that the wires in their upper part are missing. Is it just the resolution of the video?

[@royceahr]

Good presentation and the rather reserved comment about the bug. I think you should be more critical of the fact that NEO is bug ridden...Quality control seems to be an issue.

[@kevinfordham4455]

Hi, I found that replacing the sky in an image that had a flock of birds in left some strange artefact around each bird that I couldn’t get rid of using any of the refine tools. I tried it with Luminar Ai and had the same thing. At the moment it seems that Photoshop has the edge at least in that particular scenario.

[@joeshiloh6381]

Good Job. Please do more tutorials regarding Color and Masking.

[@xr680r]

So, what about using the .RAW Sky files? How's that working out?

[@Tastewithnewdrinks]

Amazing review.

[@JoeB_BSc]

With this photo, the shadow directional pole could be deleted. Of course, if the location is well known and the time of day is on the photo, it may be possible to work out the sun's direction.

[@stephenbranley9633]

Hi Anthony. Each time I insert a sky with Luminar NEO, it overlaps the buildings and I can't find out why. Any help will be appreciated, thank you...

[@tomreddish4954]

Thankyou very helpful!

[@mayvynbhana8329]

Is it possible to add another raw file as a sky to do an exposure blend?

[@svetlanagrobman3476]

Dear Anthony, did Luminar Neo get rid of sky replacement? I don't seem to be able to find it. Thanks!

[@Xzxzkanal]

Me neither, I think you now have to pay for it extra

[@svetlanagrobman3476]

@@Xzxzkanal Actually, the very last update has it. Try.

[@DJewell]

Thanks Anthony, l have lots (a couple of hundred) of high resolution sky photo taken over the years. Is it possible to do the same thing with Luminar AI to put in one's own sky folder. Right now I do them one at a time in AI. I have found too many bugs in Neo to use it except for experimental discovery. I always come to you when I can't remember how to do something with PS, LR and others; thanks you again.

[@phlotographer]

just a thought also, consider looking through the skies collected and create folders based upon characteristics of the sky and the direction of light and label each folder and then when dropped into NEO it will be easy to navigate to the type and lighting of the sky. Another thought is that often you may have an image that has a sky that is rather nice and you could easily duplicate the image and then crop the sky and save that image into an appropriate folder. HTH YMMV

[@tompatton2086]

Anthony, the before and after toggle causes the display of the image to jump around on the screen. Skylum might not consider this a bug but let's be honest, it's very annoying and needs to be fixed. If you could make them aware of it, we'd all appreciate it very much. Thanks!

[@martineudall]

Is it me or do the lines holding the mast disappear about half way up. I saw the same thing on a photo where I tried sky replacement and it removed the top half of the lines of a boats rigging

[@alistairstephenson4145]

How do you fill in where the sky replacement misses a spot l had a grayish sky on the picture but the replacement missed a spot and the old sky shows through

[@jamesgerboc]

Just tried a couple ideas I got from your previous video and noticed the clone tool is missing from Neo? I deleted a person that overlapped a string of lights and some of the string deleted as well. A simple one was needed and I couldn’t find it in Neo.

[@phlotographer]

there is a lot of things missing and something just don't work. AM did a great tutorial as did Matt Seuss related to issues with NEO. Lots of comments by all folks reading/viewing tutorials related to the released version of NEO. Still lots of issues based upon the differences between the PC and MAC platforms. I am still awaiting someone to tell me how to do a single image edit from Explorer as I don't like the Library at all.

[@jamesgerboc]

@@phlotographer I floundered for a couple years trying different products and workflows for managing and editing images. I decided to stay with Lightroom or Bridge, and everything else is a plug-in. I don’t care for a “catalog” but Lightroom has proven to be a standard. When Luminar changed from L4 to AI and the catalog wasn’t transferable, I was out. For editing, nothing does it all or easily. Photoshop/Affinity to me are only for complex edits. I do most editing in Lr, Luminar, or ON1. If I were going to try to have only one stable program to easily do most things AND manage images without a catalog, I would look hard at ON1.

[@phlotographer]

@@jamesgerboc I did use ON1 a few years ago and then went to AP. Then I spent 2018 with Luminar but updates just did not install correctly but the basics of the program looked promising particularly when LAi came out. Then came info related to NEO and that looked even better but so far has been a big disappointment at release date. I came across a freeware program -- PhotoScape X. It does also have an option to have a few more tools etc for a very modest fee at the time of $40 US. I does not have all that I would like but for doing basic things either free or pro works for what I currently do having retired from a photography career of 33 years at the turn of the century. We travelled a lot for about 14 years and seldom used the ideal times for photography of landscapes etc. due to the schedules of the cruises or our own lack of desire to be up early but that offered the challenge of getting images we liked under the conditions of the day. The one thing that I did have an interest in doing was sky replacement and some of the other tools that NEO is supposed to offer. So the purchase was made. After discovering so many issues and the fact that I have been unable to determine if one can simply make an edit on a stored image from my Windows Explorer file structure without creating a single Library (it would be a PITA to have to make multiple Libraries) I uninstalled the program but am keeping it to see what is done and I will either re-install it on my current system or wait until I do a major update of the system which it maybe make sense to do when prices of components and their availability are no longer askew due to C19. Good to chat.

[@jamesgerboc]

@@phlotographer Thanks for the discussion. Luminar has always been a balance between some pretty cool tools and instability. Some think with every new “Luminar” it gets worse. I would offer that the changes they keep making illustrate a lack of true direction or vision for the brand. I don’t depend on it and only have fun with it. With regards to your library comment, I would never rely on Luminar to manage photos. If I understand, your goal is simply to edit a single photo using Luminar as a standalone program without creating a library. All the Luminar versions provide “Edit Single Image” function (file>editsingleimage on a Mac) that gives you the ability to browse your hard drive for images to edit. I have no idea where the edit is saved, possibly a sidecar file, so use with caution. But I think that’s what you are looking for.

[@phlotographer]

@@jamesgerboc You are right James about Single Edit. Unfortunately, while I would expect that a drag/drop of a file into the opened edit window of NEO would allow one to do this, I have had zero success with this option and unfortunately there is no "open with" solution from File menu to accomplish the task either. Also, so far no one that may be using Windows 10 has suggested that they have been able to use d/d which would mean an issue with my version (updated by Skylum) or I am doing something wrong. Should be simple solution and I have used d/d with many programs. PSX has a few "open" options including a double click of an "edit" thumbnail and a keyboard shortcut from their Library Menu. A pay for program should not be more complicated than a free program like PSX. I keep hoping to learn what folks are actually doing with a PC as I suspect that maybe they create small libraries and then use that to open the images -- not the method I would prefer as I agree with you of how to attack the whole problem. TIA

[@crollinsphoto]

Why does Neo PLUS Luminar AI always darken the scene after sky replacement? No matter what sky I pick or what Picture I pick, once the sky is put in the exposure of the whole picture is reduced and no way of restoring the exposure back to what it was. I don't want the scene exposure to be changed. How can I stop it and just replace the sky and the program leave the rest alone.

[@richbottarini86]

Good job. Now, why can’t Neo mask the sky for editing as is done in Lightroom. One would assume that if Neo can replace a sky using AI, it could isolate the sky for editing. The masking function is definitely not complete and it would be easy to this function in the original release. Given the hype of advance masks for hills, roads and people, they would have included this in the release.

[@vivi7178]

is there a third party that sells a plain blue sky, with no clouds?

[@peterwilson9699]

I prefer Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, Affinity Photo and Pixelmator Pro.

[@veneamin]

We need to see the cat! :)

[@grahambarnett6107]

Once again this is not a new tool which can be found in Luminar AI, except that neo is full of bugs and is slow, This software is not worth the cost at the moment until they give you all the updates and give you what you pay for. Don't pay for a red car when you want a blue and they tell you we will have a blue one later. But once more Anthony does a great job of demonstrating replacing skies

[@lintoncoke5094]

I can not locate sky in my luminar neo. I went to the creative tool and it's not there.

[@petercallewaert4492]

Mine crashed on Mac OS X big sir while populating the catalog

[@leedonehower3112]

Thing #1: after replacing the sky, how do you bring back the upper half of the guide wires to the radio tower? Thing #2: we have 7 cats and two of them often come into my office while I'm recording a video, jump up on my desk, step on the keyboard, then onto my lap. Cats have a sixth sense of when to mess up your day.

[@romainprovost7164]

In rare cases, if the original sky is really not interesting, this feature is interesting. Nevertheless, I find the result quite artificial. Moreover, there is a catalogue of sky "offered" too restricted. There is nothing worse than finding the exact same sky in different photos.

[@phlotographer]

which is why one can simply use the camera you own and go out for a wander and take sky images. Skies change rather rapidly and by wandering one can get different images with different directions of light. Then also, if desired, edit the sky in different ways to get additional sky images. The result is only artificial to the eye because the original sky is viewed as well as the replaced sky. If AM had done the full edit but never said a word at the beginning and suggested changing an already image, and then said "surprise, the first image you saw had a replaced sky" you likely would be able say "hot damn -- cool".

[@iraabramson3825]

While this is informative, too much is made about (in my opinion) the least important part of an image. I would concentrate for competitions on the body if the image.

[@mrjiggawatt]

There are enough little bugs in this application that I wonder if they even tested it.

[@lennarthalvarsson399]

To replace the sky or other parts of the picture is nothing for me! There goes my limit!

[@MultimediaIreland]

Why bother take photos? At this stage you might as well just start rendering 3D.